Cong chief Kharge pays tributes to Rajesh Pilot on death anniversary

PTI, Jun 11, 2023, 2:24 PM IST

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Sunday paid tributes to former Union minister Rajesh Pilot on his death anniversary, saying throughout his life, he raised the voice of the deprived, the exploited and farmers.

Kharge tagged Sachin Pilot in his tweet.

”Our heartfelt tributes to former Union Minister and senior Congress leader, Rajesh Pilot, on his death anniversary,” Kharge said in his tweet in Hindi.

”Throughout his life, he (Rajesh Pilot) raised the voice of the farmers, the deprived and the exploited, and performed his duty in the service of the country through the Air Force,” he said.

In a tweet paying homage to his late father, Sachin Pilot said his father never compromised on his principles as for him public interest was paramount.

”I bow down to Shri Rajesh Pilot ji on his death anniversary. His attachment to his place of work, his affinity with the public and his working style dedicated to public welfare show me the way,” Sachin Pilot said.

”I will always follow his thoughts and ideals,” he said.

The Congress chief’s tweet and the post by Sachin Pilot come while all eyes are on the latter’s next move with intense speculation over him announcing his plans about his political future at a programme to commemorate Rajesh Pilot’s the death anniversary in Dausa.

The Congress on Saturday had exuded confidence that a ”positive solution” would be found to the intra-party discord in Rajasthan The party has already rubbished reports that Sachin Pilot will float a new party. It has said he will unitedly contest the next Rajasthan assembly elections.

The Congress had said earlier that the party is supreme and will fight the Rajasthan Assembly polls unitedly to emerge victorious, an assertion that came after Sachin Pilot refused to budge from his demands.

In a bid to defuse the tensions, Kharge and Rahul Gandhi had held marathon discussions with Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and Sachin Pilot separately last month. They had later posed for photographs at Kharge’s 10 Rajaji Marg residence here.

After the meetings, the party had said Gehlot and Sachin Pilot have agreed to fight the upcoming assembly elections unitedly and have left all issues to be resolved by the party high command.

Gehlot and Sachin Pilot have been engaged in a power tussle since the Congress formed government in the state in 2018. In 2020, Sachin Pilot led a revolt against the Gehlot government after which he was removed from the posts of the party’s state unit president and deputy chief minister.

Last year, an attempt by the high command to effect a leadership change in Rajasthan had failed after Gehlot loyalists dug their heels in and did not allow a legislature party meeting to take place.

Sachin Pilot had in April defied a warning from the party and went ahead with a day-long fast targeting Gehlot over his ”inaction” on alleged corruption during the previous Raje government.